Cord coordinator

ABSTRACT

A prosthetic limb lanyard cord retainer spool is provided, which may be mounted onto the side of a prosthetic limb socket to retain slack or excess cord from a lanyard locking system. After the limb has been locked into place, excess cord from the lanyard system may be pressed into a seam formed between the outer wall of the prosthetic limb socket and a radially outer flexible sealing flange of the cord spool to enter a circumferential channel of the cord spool (radially between the outer flexible sealing flange and an inner stem), and may be manually wrapped around the stem of the spool in a circular motion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application may be related to application Ser. No. 11/111,483, entitled “Lanyard Suspension System for a Prosthetic Limb”, filed Apr. 21, 2005.

BACKGROUND

This invention generally relates to a part to be used with a lanyard suspension system, such as a lanyard suspension system for a prosthetic limb socket assembly. The part stores excess lanyard cord extending from the outer socket. The present invention may be used for the system described in application Ser. No. 11/111,483; however, it may be used with any lanyard ravel system, and it may also be used to retain cord for any device.

SUMMARY

In an exemplary embodiment, a lanyard cord retainer spool is provided, which may be mounted onto the side of a prosthetic limb socket to retain slack or excess cord from a lanyard locking system. After the limb has been locked into place, excess cord from the lanyard system may be pressed into a seam formed between the outer wall of the prosthetic limb socket and a radially outer flexible sealing flange of the cord spool to enter a circumferential channel of the cord spool (radially between the outer flexible sealing flange and an inner stem), and may be manually wrapped around the stem of the spool in a circular motion.

The cord retainer spool is formed to allow a cord to easily slip into the housing unit into a channel defined by the cap, stem and the lip, and coil around the stem. The cord retainer spool provides resistance to securely hold the cord and resist self-unraveling, but allows the user to disengage the cord from the cord retainer spool and uncoil it. The end of the cord is left out the cord retainer.

The cap and stem are generally circular to maximize winding speed and storage capacity, and are generally concentric to each other. The cap is convex, and the edges curve toward the inner surface. The cap has an angled lip around the perimeter to allow the cord to enter the seam, but provides greater resistance so the cord is secured and does not unravel out from the housing unit. A hole may be drilled through the solid stem to attach onto the socket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows an edge view of the cord retainer spool;

FIG. 1B shows a second embodiment of an edge view of the cord retainer spool;

FIG. 2 shows a three quarter view of the part, depicting the outer side;

FIG. 3 shows the outer side view of the part as it is visible when it is attached to a surface;

FIG. 4 shows a three quarter view of the part tipped at a 45 degree angle, depicting the inner side;

FIG. 5 shows the inside view;

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the cord retainer spool along the z-axis;

FIG. 7 shows the inner side view depicting where the slice was performed;

FIG. 8A depicts an edge view of the part including example measurements for thickness along the z-axis and dashed lines to show hidden features;

FIG. 8B depicts a tilted outer view of part with example etched logo as it would appear in use;

FIG. 8C depicts edge view of the cord retainer including measurements of the stem core and diameter of the part along the y-axis and dashed lines to show hidden features;

FIG. 8D depicts the outside view of the cord retainer spool with a sample etched logo as it would appear in in use, and measurements to show the diameter of the indent, diameter of the center hole and lip, and dashed lines to show hidden features.

FIG. 9 depicts an example binding barrel;

FIG. 10 depicts an edge view of the cord retainer spool mounted on an example socket;

FIG. 11 depicts the cord retainer spool affixed to an example socket;

FIG. 12 depicts the cord as it is pulled into the cord retainer spool;

FIG. 13 depicts the cord retained in the cord retainer spool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an exemplary embodiment, referring to FIGS. 10-13, the present disclosure describes a cord retainer spool 10 adapted to be mounted onto an outer wall 70 of a prosthetic limb socket 72 for retaining slack or excess cord 74 from a lanyard locking system 76, After the residual limb has been locked into place using a lanyard locking system (such as that is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/111,483, entitled “Lanyard Suspension System for a Prosthetic Limb”, filed Apr. 21, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference), excess cord 74 from the lanyard system is pressed tangentially against the seam 50 between the circumferential flexible flange 40 of the retainer spool 10 and the outer wall 70 of the socket so as to enter a relatively toroid shaped channel 35 of formed between cord retainer spool 10 and the outer socket wall 70, and wraps around the stem 25 (FIG. 5) of the cord retainer spool 10 in a circular motion. As shown in FIG. 13, manual winding of the cord 74 may continue until only a small portion hangs out from the spool, so that the patient may easily grasp and unwind the cord again when desired. As will be described in further detail below, the flexible flange 40 helps maintain the wound cord in this manner after winding.

The cord retainer spool 10 may be formed from an elastomer with a durometer of between 50 A and 100 A, for example 80 A; however, alternative flexible materials may be suitable for the intended purposes described herein. Referring to FIGS. 1-8, the cord retainer spool 10 includes a generally disk-shaped cap 15, a stem 25 extending axially from the cap 15 in a direction toward the outer wall 70 of the prosthetic limb socket 72 when mounted thereto (axially inward direction), and a circumferential flange 40 extending from the circumferential edge of the cap in an axially inward direction. The flange 40 is dimensioned so that it abuts against the outer wall 70 of the prosthetic limb socket 72 when the cord retainer spool 10 is mounted to the outer wall of the prosthetic limb socket to form seam 50 (alternatively, it is dimensioned so that it extends within a distance of the outer wall of the prosthetic limb socket that is less than the thickness of the lanyard cord 74). A relatively toroid shaped channel 35 is defined by the inner side 30 of the cap 15 and the outer wall of the socket, radially between the stem 25 and the flange 40.

The channel 35 formed between the inner side 30 of the cap 15 and the socket wall 70, and defined by the stem 25 and the flange 40 provides room to store the cord 74 therein as it may be manually wrapped around the stem 25. The cap 15 covers and protects the cord from view, and the cap 15 and flange 40 bias against the cord 74 passing between the flange 40 and the socket wall 70, thereby retaining the wound cord 74 within the cord retainer spool 10.

The stem 25 in the hub of the cord retainer spool 10 provides a structure around which to wind excess cord 74. It is designed with a large diameter to minimize the number of winds needed to store the excess cord. In an exemplary embodiment, this diameter may be between about 25% and 75% of the diameter of the cap 15; and in an even more detailed embodiment, this diameter may be about 50% of the diameter of the cap 15. But, ideally, the circumference, or perimeter of the stem 25 may be large enough to minimize the number of turns the cord needs to make before the cord is sufficiently drawn up and retained. Dimensions in FIG. 8A FIG. 8B are exemplary dimensions, and one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the disclosure provided herein may incorporate a variety of dimensions.

When installed, the flange 40 is designed to be biased resistively against the socket wall 70, creating a seam 50. The flange 40 stabilizes the cord retainer spool 10 on the socket by deforming radially away from the center of the cord retainer spool 10 after it has been connected. The flange 40 may be flush against the socket as shown in FIG. 1A, but it is sufficiently flexible to allow the cord 74 to be pulled into the channel 35 to wind around the stem 25. It will also be appreciated that the flange 40 may extend inwardly towards the socket wall 70, but be distanced from the socket wall 70 at a distance less than the diametrical thickness of the cord 74 as shown in FIG. 1B, thereby providing similar cord retaining results.

The flange 40 of the cap is angled radially inward as it extends from the cap 15. The inward angle of the flange 40 may acts as a guide for the cord 74 to direct it into the seam 50 between the socket 72 and the cord retainer spool 10. The guide is meant to provide a large target area for patients with low dexterity to increase the ease of use.

The excess cord is pulled so the cord enters the seam 50 between the socket and the flange 40 of the cord retainer spool 10. Another benefit of the flange 40 occurs when the cord 74 is fully wound up and inside the spool. The flange 40 acts as a light clasp to hold the end of the cord in place. When the cord is being unwound from the cord retainer spool 10, the flange 40 will flex radially outward providing only a small amount of resistance which allows the cord to be easily unwound when required, but just enough resistance to keep the cord from unwinding any other time.

Three notches 41 provided in the flange 40 around the perimeter of the cord retainer spool 10 act as vents so the part does not create a suction against the side of the socket. The notches 41 may also be used to register the cord 74 to a certain circumferential position, and allow the wearer to easily find the end of the cord to disengage it from the cord retainer spool 10. However, the cord can extend from and be held against the socket by a part of the lip 40 which is not notched.

A small mass 78 can be attached to the tip of the cord 74 to prevent the cord from being engulfed by the cord retainer spool 10. This is a good location for a small piece of plastic or metal with a logo. Another good location for a logo is in the center of the outside face of the cord retainer spool 10 or on the face of the binding barrel's head 62.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, the cord retainer spool 10 may be attached to the socket by the stem 25 using a coupling mechanism such as, for example, with a binding barrel 60. In an exemplary embodiment, a through-hole 28 and counter-sunk indentation 29 is formed in the stem 25, corresponding to a hole drilled in side of the patient's socket at a location for ease of use. After the hole is drilled, a binding barrel's body 61 is inserted into the center hole 28 on the convex side 20 of the part. A bolt 63 is then inserted through the drilled hole in the socket and the binding barrel body 61 and bolt 63 are inserted into each other to lock the cord retainer spool 10 onto the side of the socket. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that numerous alternative coupling mechanisms may be available, such as (without limitation) adhesives, integrated molding, tacks and the like. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A cord retainer spool associated with a lanyard suspension system, comprising: a cap, having a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface; a stem extending axially from the inner surface of the cap; a toroid channel defined by the inner surface of the cap and the stem; and a coupling adapted to couple the stem to an outer wall of a prosthetic limb socket component.
 2. The retainer spool of claim 1, where the retainer spool is formed from an elastomer with a durometer of between 50 A and 100 A.
 3. The cord retainer spool of claim 1, where the stem is substantially cylindrical.
 4. The cord retainer spool of claim 1, where the perimeter of the stem is at least 25% the perimeter of the cap.
 5. The cord retainer spool of claim 1, where the coupling includes a hole extending axially through the stem.
 6. The retainer spool of claim 1, further comprising a substantially flexible, a circumferential flange extending axially inwardly from the cap.
 7. The cord retainer spool of claim 6, wherein the flange tapers as it extends from the cap.
 8. The cord retainer spool of claim 6 where an inner edge of the flange and an inner end of the stem are substantially flush.
 9. The cord retainer spool of claim 6 where the stem extends slightly further than the edge of the flange.
 10. The cord retainer spool of claim 1 further comprising venting so that a first air pressure within the toroid channel is substantially similar to a second air pressure surrounding the cord retainer.
 11. The cord retainer spool of claim 9 wherein the distance between an inner end of the flange and an inner end of the step is less than a diametrical thickness of a lanyard cord.
 12. The cord retainer spool of claim 6 where the flange contains at least one V-shaped notch, the at least one V-shaped notch extending through a partial height of the flange, the point of the at least one V-shaped notch pointing towards the cap.
 13. The cord retainer spool of claim 1 where the stem is adapted to have a lanyard cord manually wound there-around.
 14. The cord retainer spool of claim 5 where a through-hole extends the length of the stem and includes a counter-bore.
 15. A cord retainer spool associated with a lanyard suspension system, comprising: a substantially flexible elastomer body; a convex cap, having an inner surface and an outer surface, where the edges of the cap curve inwardly to define the inner surface; the inner surface of the cap contains a beveled flange around the circumference; a stem extending from the inner surface of the cap; a toroid channel defined by the inner surface of the cap and the stem; and the cord retainer spool is adapted for use with a prosthetic lanyard device.
 16. The cord retainer spool of claim 15, wherein: the flange contains at least one V-shaped notch, the at least one V-shaped notch extending through a partial height of the flange, the point of the at least one V-shaped notch pointing towards the cap; the edge of the flange is of a slightly smaller circumference than the circumference of the cap; the flange and the stem extend substantially a similar distance from a line tangent to the cap; and the flange is flexible.
 17. The cord retainer spool of claim 15, wherein: the stem has a diameter at least 25% the diameter of the cap; the stem contains a channel to receive a binding barrel.
 18. A method for retaining excess cord from a lanyard locking system, the method comprising: mounting a flexible retainer spool to an outer wall of a prosthetic limb socket, the spool and socket forming a toroid shaped cavity therebetween and a flexible seam between the outer periphery of the spool and the outer wall of the prosthetic limb socket; manually pressing the excess cord tangentially against the seam, to deflect the flexible seam and allow the cord to pass within the toroid shaped cavity, and manually winding the cord around the toroid shaped cavity.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of: securing an end portion of the cord outside the retainer.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of securing the cord includes the step of: registering an end portion of the cord within a V-shaped notch cut into the outer circumstantial periphery of the flexible retainer spool. 